Reign of Flame
by Unchanging Queen of Magyk
Summary: The end is coming and its time for Ellie and her friends to fight their demons one last time. With their enemies becoming stronger and their struggles becoming greater, they must all make sacrifices that will change their world forever. Relationships are tested and powers are pushed to the limit in this gripping conclusion to the Fire trilogy. Welcome all to the Reign of Flame!
1. Something Blue

**I'm back! I know its been a while but it'll be worth your wait. I've also recently updated my other fic - Things I Left Unsaid. **

**Disclaimer: As always I don't own anything but my OC's and ideas!**

_**~Chapter 1. Something Blue~**_

The skies turn to fire as I watch helplessly from the ground. Everything is burning, flames of orange, white and blue set the air alight. The taste of sulphur and ash scorch my tongue but I try to ignore it. I can't think about that now. I can't think about anything. This is the end. I am going to die.

_xxx_

_Ellie POV_

I didn't realise where I was when I first came to. I was lying down in a stiff bed, my head rolled uncomfortably to one side. There were no windows in the room and the only door appeared to blur as I looked at it. Panicking slightly, I tried to push myself up but something straining against my wrist pushed me back down again. I didn't feel strong enough to use fire to burn it.

I tried to get a look of the room and realised that it was set up like a hospital—St. Mungos. There were two basket like objects in the room, each with an IV drip and monitor behind it. A cry rang out from one of the baskets, sharp and loud like...

"...Like a baby." I whispered, yanking my hands up and burning through the restraints with a flash of heat.

I crossed over to what was actually two incubators, my head spinning as I went. Using one hand as a balance I reached the first, where inside a beautiful baby boy was crying. I didn't try to pick him up, I knew I was too weak but I put out a hand to stroke his cheek and the wailing stopped instantly. I smiled and then turned to the other incubator.

This baby wasn't beautiful, it was clearly sick. She didn't cry—her eyes weren't even open and her chest was barely moving. When I touched her cheek her skin was ablaze, a white hot fever wracking through her body. I didn't have to be a healer to know that she was dying.

The click of an opening door diverted my attention but it wasn't George, Charlotte or Fred standing there. The figure was heavily cloaked with a pair of sunglasses hiding its eyes. In one hand it carried a wand and in the other a large bag. Without hesitation I put myself between the intruder and my children, holding my blazing fingers out as a warning.

"Oh my dear child." The intruder said in a woman's voice. It was familiar but I couldn't quite identify it. "You will never be able to harm me."

She raised her wand and muttered an incantation that I couldn't hear. A flash of white exploded outward and then my world faded to black.

_xxx_

_George POV_

Ellie had come back from surgery almost an hour ago but she still hadn't come round. Her hand in mine was dangerously hot but I didn't care, at least the heat meant she was alive. She always looked so peaceful when she was sleeping, so calm and free of pain. I'd always thought that I could achieve that look in the daylight hours, that my love could ease her mind like her dreams did. No amount of love was going to ease this pain though.

They hadn't let me see the baby and I'm not sure I would've have wanted to. I'm not sure I would've wanted to see that face, sick and pained, permanently etched onto my mind. Ellie would want to see her though, to hold her just once. She was going to be distraught. I pressed a kiss to her forehead, trying to muster up strength for when she woke up.

_Ellie POV_

The first thing that I was aware of was George's hand in my own, the second was the fact that I was burning up. With a conscious effort, I turned down the heat, determined not to burn my fiance.

"George." I whispered, opening my eyes.

He tried to smile at me but he couldn't commit to the expression. Tears lingered in his eyes as I put a hand to my stomach. It all came back in a rush. The pain, the bleeding, the deliria. Then the white halls of the hospital, the sedative, waking up in that room, the dying baby, being attacked. I listed the events off in my head, knowing by the look on George's face that the baby girl was now dead.

"But I was with her in the room. I thought she had longer." I murmured, trying to explain what had happened.

He looked down at me with sad eyes. "It was a dream, Ellie. The girl was never alive, she was stillborn."

A dream. The idea of being attacked in a hospital _was_ a little far-fetched and yet I didn't believe my child was stillborn.

"Can I see her?" I asked, deciding not to continue talking about the attack for fear of upsetting George.

He shook his head, unable to speak. Then it hit me like a wave, the shock of it all giving way to the tears. I didn't want to cry—I hadn't in a long time—but I couldn't stop myself. I turned my head into the pillow, feeling it go damp beneath my face. George, who had been sitting by my side, eased himself onto the small bed and gathered me up into his arms.

Whether I had been dreaming or not, whether she had been stillborn or had died sometime after, didn't matter. She was dead now, her sickly face imprinted into my mind, ripping away at my heart.

_xxx_

_Charlotte POV_

I was tired and the beginnings of a headache were starting to appear. I could've gone home, George had insisted that Fred and I got some sleep but I didn't want to. Instead I stood in front if the nursery, watching their little baby with weary eyes. He was remarkably healthy, his face bright and alert. He hadn't suffered the same oxygen deprivation as his sister and aside from the fetal distress caused by the incident, he hadn't been affected at all.

Fred came up behind me, pressing a cup of coffee into my hand.

"You look exhausted."

"I'm fine. I can stay here as long as Ellie needs me to." I said, taking a long swig of the drink.

"Was it like this with Rizzo?" He asked.

"She left the hospital pretty quickly when Riz what born. She was sick quite a lot after, didn't give her body much of an opportunity to recover. Rizzo was sick a lot too, they didn't think she'd live past three." I shrugged. "But those Corems are fighters. I don't think I've seen an infant more determined to live."

Fred stared into the nursery, looking at the tiny faces as they slept. He had a sad look on his face.

"What I wouldn't give to be that blissfully unaware." He muttered bitterly whilst turning to look at me. "We have to tell them. I know they've been through a lot but they need to know sooner rather than later. It won't be safe for them here for much longer."

I sighed, my gaze still locked on the baby. "We'll tell George now. If I tell him you have to watch the baby. Once he knows he'll sign the baby out and we just have to hope that Ellie's strong enough to move."

"This last year has been perfect for them, hasn't it? Everyone was distracted either by Ellie's return or mine or Joreth's and Riley's. It gave them the chance to worm their way in."

I nodded. "That's how parasites work. You don't realise its there until you're almost dead." I finished the coffee and turned away from the nursery. "Its time to tell them."

Leaving Fred watching the baby, I made my way through the maternity unit to Ellie's room. I passed a woman cloaked in black, jumping out of her way as she barrelled blindly down the corridor, her gaze fixed on something in her bag.

When I got to the room I saw that Ellie was sitting up but leaning heavily against George's chest. She looked up at me and gave me a small smile.

"Hey, I didn't realise you were here."

I shrugged. "I'm your best friend and soon to be sister-in-law, I had to be here."

"Is everything okay?" George sounded worried.

"Everything's fine. Actually Ellie we were wondering if you wanted to see your son?"

Her smile grew a little brighter. "I'd like that, thanks."

George stood up, explaining that only parents could sign a child out of the nursery and followed me into the corridor.

"I need to tell you something." I said in a low voice.

"Okay."

"Whilst Ellie was in surgery we got a call from Emephile. Mella's taken over the Ministry and she's calling for a war against her enemies."

His eyes flickered back to where Ellie lay with her eyes closed. "She's too weak to move, she lost a lot of blood."

"She doesn't need to move far. I can apparate her back to the castle and then you and Fred can drive the baby back. If you look in my bag you'll find a travel seat—I've had it in there for weeks just in case."

He wiped a hand across his face tiredly. "You know we only just thought of a name for the baby." He sighed. "Timothy Tristain after her uncle...and she would've been Dakota Catherine." He shook his head. "I'll meet you back home."

I stepped back into the room and sat down by Ellie.

"You gonna explain that or am I just going to have to trust you?" She asked, her eyes still closed.

With a groan, I relayed the information back to her.

Her eyes snapped open, burning molten gold. "We can't apparate with the baby?"

I shook my head. "You know how dangerous that can be."

"Okay. Can I have a moment with him though? I just want to see his face."

"Of course."

_xxx_

_Ellie POV_

Timothy was a beautiful baby. His skin was a dark tan colour and his hair the same coppery auburn as Rizzo's. He had George's nose and mouth but my round eyes which opened to a brilliant blue. It was startling. Nearly every Corem—even Rizzo—had gold or flame coloured eyes but Timmy's were blue. They were rich like lapis lazuli and appeared to flicker like a flame. They were strange and alien but gorgeous.

"The two of you have some strange genetics going on there." Charlotte smiled, seeing the shocked expression on my face.

"He's going to be strong. Stronger than any Corem before him, I think."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow. "Surely not stronger than his mother."

I smiled at him lovingly. "Even I can be bested."

**So who is this mysterious woman in the hospital? Why did she attack Ellie? And what on earth will Mella do next?** **In the meantime you know what to do!**

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**Ella Bella xx**


	2. I steal something precious

**I'm going to Wales! So this might be the last update for the week but don't worry, I'm still writing. Anyway, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, I own my OCs.**

**_~Chapter 2. I steal something precious~_**

_Magenta POV_

I couldn't sleep. We received a call from Emephile in the early hours of the morning that the Ministry had been taken over. It was at that point I realised that Ellie wasn't back yet and when we'd gotten through to George we found out that she was in the hospital. The last news we had gotten was that Ellie was unconscious and one baby didn't make it. All of that made it difficult for me to get any rest.

The rest of the house was quiet—everyone decided to get some sleep when it was clear that they wouldn't be home for a while. Grabbing a blanket from the corner of the room, I stepped out into the hall and cocooned myself in the soft material. My chest still felt a little sore from a few months ago and I got short of breath a lot quicker so by the time that I got to the bottom of the stairs I was winded and aching.

With a groan I stumbled forward and would have fallen if someone hadn't caught me.

"Easy there." Albus said softly, guiding me to the sofa.

"What are you doing up?" I asked, sitting down heavily.

"It's almost morning and I wasn't really up that late."

I looked around and saw that the first sign of dawn was shining through the heavy curtains. Rizzo, who had gone late night shopping for baby things, would be back any minute now and hopefully so would Ellie and George.

Al sat close to me on the sofa. "You really shouldn't be exerting yourself so much. You had a long night and you're still recovering from the attack."

"I know. I just couldn't sleep with everything that's going on with Ellie. She's going to need a lot of help and support but obviously we can't make it apparent to her because she doesn't like the fuss."

"She's strong, Gen. You know my dad used to tell me stories about Aunt Charlotte's friend Ellie? Lily loves those stories."

"What stories?" I turned and was suddenly aware of how close he was to me.

"Well stories about the DA and about the time she stood up to Umbridge in the middle of a class. Or about the time she stood up to Draco at the Quidditch World Cup. _Or _about the time she got hit by a bludger during a match but play to the end anyway."

I laughed. "She actually told me about that one. She ended up in the medical bay for a week."

He smiled at me, his eyes sparkling like he knew something I didn't. "Your mum is going to be fine, Gen, and she knows she's got her family supporting her."

I didn't really have to move much to give him a hug so I moved over and wrapped the blanket around the both of us. The two of us sat like that, huddled in a blanket and talking until Rizzo came back levitating a crib and other baby accessories through the room. She stopped quickly when she noticed us and smiled.

"Gen, you're awake! Want to help me fix up the room?" It never ceased to amaze me how she could keep up a smile no matter what the situation. "Al can help too if that influences your decision."

"Are you sure you don't want to get some sleep? We can set up by ourselves—I'm able to read an instruction manual."

"I'll sleep when mum gets home. Now, are you coming or not?"

_xxx_

_Ellie POV_

By the time I woke up the sun was up and shining brightly through the open window. For a second I thought that I'd only slept a few hours but memories started to come back to me in patches and I realised that I'd actually slept right through the previous day. George wasn't in the room but he had left a few painkillers and a cup of water on the bedside table for me. I swallowed them quickly before poking my head next door to see if George was there with the baby.

"Oh, you're up." Rizzo glanced up at me from where she was sitting holding the baby.

"Did you do this?" I said, gesturing to the room. Overnight it had been transformed into a nursery, complete with a crib and a mobile.

"Partially—I fell asleep." She smiled sheepishly. "Al and Gen did a good job though."

I sat down next to her and she passed baby Timmy to me. I gently stroked his head, my hand smoothing down the fine wisps of coppery hair. His tiny hands tried to wrap around my fingers, his blue eyes locked on mine.

"I'm sorry about the second baby." She rested her head on my shoulder. "I know it must hurt."

"It does but you don't have to worry about me. It's my responsibility to worry about you and I promise no matter what happens with Mella, I'm not going to let her touch you."

"I know, Mum, after all you've never let us down before."

_xxx_

I left Timothy in the safe hands of his older sister and went down to find George and the others. Unsurprisingly they were sitting in the dining room, deep in conversation. I took a steadying breath and walked inside, taking my usual seat beside George.

"Nice of you to join us." Korakov slid a file over to my side of the table. "That's all the information we have so far."

I appreciated the fact that nobody was treating me like I was fragile or breakable—somehow that made things easier, normal.

I thumbed through the file. "This is useless. I know all this."

"Which is exactly the problem." Freya sighed. "Mella has too many secret weapons. The spies she had in the Ministry were probably there for years and we didn't even know about Mum, err, Sofia's true intentions until about a few months ago. They are ten steps ahead in every situation."

"I don't see why we can't call on the help of the other Ministries or at least call your friends down at Naorta?" Harry asked, skimming through another file that was being passed around the table.

"We have, in fact that was the first suggestion that Naorta made when I contacted them but apparently Mella is very interested in foreign affairs. She's got some sort of pack with all the closest Ministries in Europe."

Charlotte groaned. "So we're alone, us against an unimaginable force."

I shook my head. "No, me against my mother, like it was always going to be."

xxx

Anonymous POV

I was surprised that Charlotte hadn't recognised me in the hospital or that she didn't find my disguise suspicious. I guess Mum was right about one thing—the others were blind when they were worried about Ellie.

I peered into my bag to check on my collection. It had been a risky mission, one that would have ended in my death if I had been caught. _But you weren't caught._ I stood by the bus station and pulled the thing from the bag, holding it to my chest as the Night Bus came to a jolting stop and I stepped inside. Nobody here would recognise, nobody would pay any attention to the person sitting at the back of the bus.

As the Night Bus started to move, I felt another heart beat against my own, tiny and fluttering. I moved the blanket aside and stared down at the sickly, almost death-like face. So Mum was right about another thing too—the child would survive.

**Ooooh, a twist! Anyway, I'm leaving for Wales now so I'll update when possible. In the meantime:**

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**Ella Bells xx**


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